SAN DIEGO - Nico Tagaloa delivered the equalizing goal for the Point Loma men's soccer team in the 32nd minute as the Sea Lions and Hawaii Hilo settled for a 1-1 draw on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
 
The tie gives PLNU (7-5-2, 6-3-1 PacWest) one point in the standings as it currently move into a tie for third place with Hawaii Pacific in the PacWest with 19 points. Hawaii Hilo is now 4-9-1 on the season and 3-5-1 in the PacWest.
 
The Vulcans took the lead in the 21st minute when Alejandro Patino took advantage of the Sea Lions' inability to clear the ball and slipped it past the keeper for the score.
 
After giving up lead, Point Loma went on the attack and had a couple good looks at the goal before Lewis Grant found Nico Tagaloa flying high through the middle of the box on a cross. Tagaloa squared the ball up perfectly with his head and deflected it sharply pass the keeper to tie the game.
 
"Lewis put a great ball in and Nico took a good chance," said Point Loma head coach Phil Wolf. "It is difficult after you concede a goal because they stick so many guys in the back and the rest of the game is just whether you can undo (that defense)."
 
After that score, PLNU seemed to grab momentum and carried it throughout the rest of the match, except for one point in the second overtime. Point Loma outshot UHH 6-1 in the second half, and 10-4 over the final 65 minutes.
 
"Unfortunately we only did it one time in a game that we had the ball 98 percent of the time," said Wolf about Tagaloa's goal.
 
However, while Point Loma had the quantity of shots, and even looks that just didn't get a foot on them, Hawaii Hilo had one of the best looks in overtime as PLNU was charged with a handball just outside of the box resulting in a direct kick. The Sea Lions set up the wall to make it difficult but Jamie Sporcic was able to loop it right over and the ball looked to be sailing just below the crossbar. PLNU's goalie Michael Lambert made the play of the game jumping and punching the ball high over the bar and thwarting the Vulcans' best look since their goal. The match ended shortly after in the 1-1 tie.
 
"I am very proud of the guys," said Wolf. "They are playing their hearts out and playing very good football. It is hard sport and a bit of an unlucky year with some of the injuries and everything that has gone on. A different year it falls for us but right now it is just hard.
 
"It is very, very disappointing," said Wolf about the result, "but unfortunately it is not the first time that game has been played this year. We just don't have enough quality to create chances. It is sad to say because I think we play really, really well and we are just missing 5-10 percent of what it takes to be really good. But that 5-10 percent is killing us right now."
 
The Point Loma men's soccer team will be at home on Saturday, Oct. 31 for Senior Day presented by Miguel's Cocina. The Sea Lions will host BYU-Hawaii at 2:00 p.m. with Senior Day ceremonies happening before kickoff. Point Loma will be saying goodbye to Matt Steinhaus, Daniel ten Bosch, Lewis Grant, Manu Montal and Avrin Yakou which will all be playing their final home match at the PLNU Soccer Field.
 
"I would love for these seniors to end on a winning note for their team," Wolf said. "I would love that more than anything. They deserve better than what they have gotten this year and I would love to finish it really well at the end with a full three points."
 
PLNU will then go on the road to close out its regular season at Dominican (CA) on Thursday, Nov. 5 and at Holy Names on Saturday, Nov. 7.
 
"There are still three more games and you don't know what can happen," added Wolf.